Cylindrical products terminator



Nov. 7, 1961 w. R. CLORE CYLIND'RICAL PRODUCTS TERMINATOR Filed Dec. 13, 1957 INVENTOR I 712% 7?. 640% United States Patent C 3,007,498 CY LINDRICAL PRODUCTS TERMINATOR William R. Clore, Columbus, Ohio, assignor to Industrial Nucleonics Corporation, a corporation of Ohio Filed Dec. 13, 1957, Ser. No. 702,568 3 Claims. (Cl. 140-71) This invention relates to an electrical wire terminating device and more particularly to an improved terminating apparatus for temporarily securing cylindrical electrical conductors in an assembly operation.

Quite often it is necessary to secure electrical conductors temporarily during the assembling of a cable harness. Usual methods commonly employed to hold a wire conductor are to wedge the conductor between two nails properly spaced to engage the wire, or to insert the wire between two spring loaded members. Both of these methods are extremely time consuming since they require considerable manual skill and dexterity. These methods have the further disadvantage in that they are not readily adaptable to various conductor sizes. The spring loaded holding devices commonly used are also relatively expensive to produce since a special design is required when more than one wire size is used.

The assembling and utilization of cable harnesses for various electronic equipment greatly facilitates the construction of these units. The complex point to point wiring is primarily facilitated since most of the conductors are contained in the cable which can be assembled outside the unit on a board. The wires are secured on the board so that they are of proper length and temporarily held to assure that their relation to each other is as required in the final unit. Once the wires are cut to length and each run to its proper terminating points, they are tightly laced so as to preserve their relative arrangement while being placed in the final unit. The cable harness may then be lifted from the board and the individual wires soldered to the various components mounted on the final unit.

The present invention provides a convenient terminating device to temporarily secure a conductor of any convenient size to a cable board in such a manner that it may be quickly and easily secured and later, removed.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of this invention to provide a method of temporarily securing the conductors of a cable harness that involves a minimum amount of skill and manual labor.

It is another object of this invention to provide a conductor terminating device which can be simply produced.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a conductor terminating device that is considerably less expensive in terms of material used and required manhours than similar apparatus used heretofore.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a conductor terminating device which readily secures any size wire.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a conductor terminating device that preserves the physical properties of the secured wire.

Still a further object of this invention is to provide a conductor terminating device that is easily shaped to any curvature.

It is likewise a further object of this invention to provide a conductor terminating device which can be easily fastened to and removed from a cable board.

These as well as other objects and features of the invention will become more apparent upon reference to the following specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a partial top plan view of the present invention illustrative of a preferred embodiment.

Patented Nov. 7, 1961 FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 22 of FIG.-1.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 2.

Referring now to the drawings andspecifically to FIG. 1, the conductors 10 through 20 disperse from the end of a tightly laced cable 50 at point A to terminating points B through G at various distances from point A. The conductors are held at point A between suitable guide pins 11 and 13. The number of conductors and their length from the end A of cable 50 is determined by the requirements of the equipment being wired. A wire holder consisting of a flat piece of metal is bent at. a 90 angle and fastened to a cable board 32 by screws at 34. The vertical element 35 of the wire holder 30 contains V-shaped slots 36 extending downwardly from the uppermost limit of holder 30 to approximately half the distance to the cable board.32. The horizontal element 37 which is fastened to boa-rd 29 is triangularly notched at 40 to permit ease of bending of strip as explained hereinafter. The quantity per unit length and angle of notches 40 determine the radius of curvature of the holder 30.

For a more perspicuous illustration of the shape of slots 36, reference may be made to FIG. 2. The spacing of the slots 36 is determined by the ease of handling wires in close proximity to each other. The slots 36 are tapered, being widest at the top. This enables the slot to accommodate various sizes of wire placed therein. It should be noted that the holding power of slot 36 is inversely proportional to the size of the angle 0 determined by the sides of the slot 36. So that with a given length of slot, the smaller this angle 0 is made, the greater the force with which the conductor is secured, but the minimum size of angle 0 also restricts the variation in wire diameter that may be used. It has been found that a between holding power and variation in wire diameter used may be attained by making the angle 0 equal to 6.

FIG. 3 is a side elevation of the invention showing the bend between the horizontal element 37 and the vertical element 35 and a suitable mounting means.

The utilization of this invention with reference to the production of cable harnesses consists of the hereinafter mentioned steps. The first of these steps is to form the holder 30 into an are about point A, the radius of which is determined by the length and number of Wires required from the end of cable 50. Next the holder 30 is fastened in place on the board. Wire '10 is strung between the,

guide pins 11 and 13 and inserted in a slot at point B. If conductor 10 is pushed sufliciently into slot 36, it will remain therein unless a small upward force is exerted to displace it. The other end of conductor 10 may be similarly secured at some other point (not shown) along the cable 50. Each succeeding conductor may be similarly aifixed, whereinafter the cable 50 may be tightly laced, starting at the guide pins 11 and '13. When the entire cable 50 is laced it may be lifted from the board 32 by gently lifting each wire from its slot 36. Inserting of the cable 50 and the soldering of the individual conductors in the final assembly completes the construction of the cable 50.

The metal used should be non-corrosive and of sufficient thickness to require more than slight hand pressure to bend. The holder 30 may or may not be circularly shaped and may be made any length needed by cutting a specific length from a piece of stock strip. It is also apparent that the holder may be made from, or molded from, a plastic or non-metallic material.

Although reference is made to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, it should be considered exemplary and by no means res rictive so that numerous changes, omissions and additions may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1., Terminating apparatus for a plurality of wires being assembled into a cable harness wherein each of said wires. is of a different. length and to be secured in a different direction comprising, an integrally formed metallic strip having vertical and horizontal elements, a plurality of V- shaped notches spaced along said vertical element, each of said notches adapted to releasably secured one of said electrical wires, base means .for supportingly mounting said cable harness, means for mounting said horizontal element on said base means, a'plurality of slots in said horizontal element dividing said element into sections. of different length to adjust the spacing of said ventical element of said strip from said cable harness to provide. contact of each of said wires with one of said V-shaped notches,

2. Terminating apparatus for a pIurality of electrical wire conductors of different lengths and numbers being assembled into a cable. harness, comprising, an integral metallic strip having vertical and horizontal elements, a plurality of V-shaped notches formed in said vertical element, each of saidv notches adapted to. releasably secure one of said. conductors, and a plurality of triangular notches in said horizontal element to'permit dividing Said element into sections of different length and the bending of said strip to group said V-notches to the number and length of said electrical conductors, and means also provided in said horizontal element to secure said strip from movement.

3. Apparatus for a plurality of electrical wire conductors of different lengths and number being assembled into a cable harness, comprising, an integral metallic strip having vertical and horizontal elements, a plurality of V- shaped notches formed insaid vertical element, each of said notches adapted to releasably secure one of said conductor-s, a plurality of triangular notches in said horizontal element to permit dividing said element into sections of different, length and the grouping of said V-notches to provide contact for each of said conductors of varying length with one of said V-notches, and means provided in said horizontal element with one of said V-notches, and means provided in said horizontal element between said dividing means for securing said strip from movement.

References Citedin the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,570,814.- Woolley Jan. 26, 1926 1,738,710 Jones Dec. 10, 1929 2,082,099- Cruser June 1, 1937 2,650,948 Findlay Sept. 1, 1953 2,656,999 Ullberg Oct. 27, 1953 2,921,607 Caveney Jan. 19, 1960 

